Why does it matter which soap you use?

Washing your hands with soap and water is one of the simplest and most effective ways to support your health and hygiene. From kitchens to campsites, bathrooms to bushwalks — soap is your skin’s first line of defence.

And while any soap is better than none, not all soaps are created equal. If you’re washing often (and most of us are), the kind of soap you use can make a big difference — not just in how clean your hands feel, but in how your skin holds up over time.

Let’s take a closer look at how different formulations perform — and why choosing a better bar makes good sense.

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Not All Soap Is Created Equal

When it comes to skin health, the quality of your soap matters in two key ways:

• It protects your skin barrier. A well-formulated soap cleanses gently and thoroughly — without leaving your skin dry, irritated, or compromised.
• It lasts longer. Quality ingredients and good formulation mean a longer-lasting bar, making it practical and economical to use every day.

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Fact #1: Commercial Soaps Are Often Stripped of Goodness

Many commercial soap bars are made from cheap, mass-produced soap “noodles” — often palm oil–based and stripped of natural glycerine. These bars are typically processed at high heat and filled with artificial fragrances and fillers to keep costs low and shelf life high.

The Washpool Difference

Our handmade natural bars are formulated from scratch, using a cold process method that preserves the beneficial properties of our ingredients. We use nourishing oils and butters like olive, avocado, macadamia, shea and cacao butter. We don’t use palm oil, and we scent our bars with pure essential oils at safe levels — never artificial fragrances. Most importantly, our range isn’t “one size fits all.” We formulate to meet the unique needs of real people, just like you.

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Fact #2: Some Soaps Simply Don’t Last

While studying distillation in New Zealand, Melissa picked up a handmade soap bar from a local market. Despite using it alone, the bar was gone in just two days. A quick look at the ingredients revealed the issue — it was made entirely from soft oils, with no hard butters to give it staying power.

The Washpool Difference

Bars made solely with light oils (like olive or coconut) dissolve quickly in water. But when you include rich butters — like shea and cacao — the bar becomes far more durable. That’s why we formulate our soap with a high percentage of butters. Yes, it costs more to make, but it means your bar will last much longer.

In fact, we tested this. We soaked both the New Zealand soap and a Washpool bar in water for one hour, then gave each jar a one-minute shake. The other soap lost 20% of its weight. The Washpool bar? Just 2%.

That’s a 10x difference in durability — without compromising on skin feel.

Want to make your bar last even longer? Don’t miss our blog How to Make Your Handmade Soap Last Longer.

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Everyday Soap. Elevated.

You use it every day. You use it all over your body. It touches your skin more often than most other products — so why settle for less?

Choosing a better soap doesn’t have to be complicated. It just has to be honest, well-formulated, and made with skin health in mind. That’s what we do at Washpool.

Shop Our Handmade Soap Bars →

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